US Intelligence Possibly Aided in Haniyeh Assassination, Says Analyst
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The intelligence used to locate and assassinate Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh suggests possible assistance from the United States, an analyst said.
“Intelligence is key. Any weapon in the world is only as good as the intelligence that guides it. It can be as accurate as it likes,” Al Jazeera’s Defence Editor Alex Gatopoulos said.
He elaborated that technical intelligence likely provided the location, requiring quick action, and said that the US has the capability to collect such intelligence.
Gatopoulos added that Mossad and Iranian dissidents are often sources of on-the-ground information. “The means by which he died are almost irrelevant because it’s the intelligence that guided it,” he added.
Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, described Haniyeh’s assassination as a “grave development” with the potential to trigger a regional war.
“What you have in Israel now is a fascist government in every sense of the word,” Barghouti stated from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
He accused Israel of seeking a regional conflict and trying to involve the US in a confrontation with Iran.
Barghouti criticized US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for stating that the US would defend Israel, accusing Israel of committing war crimes and expressing concern over the US response to Netanyahu’s actions.
“What is most surprising is to hear a person like this secretary of defense from the United States, Lloyd Austin, saying that the United States will defend Israel. They’re allowing Israel to act as a criminal fascist, attacking and killing people in Lebanon, attacking and killing people in Tehran, attacking and killing Palestinians, committing terrible war crimes like genocide and collective punishment, and yet they want to defend the criminal, the aggressor,” he said.
Following the assassination, Iran declared three days of public mourning and vowed retaliation.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) released a statement condemning the assassination and warning of “a harsh and painful response”.
“This crime showed that the Zionist gang of criminals, murderers and terrorists, without any regard for international rules and regulations, does not shy away from committing any criminal action to cover up the shameful failures of nine months of war in Gaza, which led to the massacre of tens of thousands of Palestinian women, men and children,” the IRGC stated.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei also promised retaliation, with Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei saying that the “criminal and terrorist Zionist regime” would face “severe punishment” and emphasizing Iran’s duty to avenge the blood of the Hamas leader.